


Keeping Score

by treaddelicately



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Inspired by Hallmark Christmas Movies, Mistaken Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:20:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28308168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/treaddelicately/pseuds/treaddelicately
Summary: Darcy's working really, really hard to impress the reviewer sent to check out her family's bed and breakfast, but staying focused proves difficult when that reviewer is one handsome, charismatic Bucky Barnes.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Darcy Lewis
Comments: 21
Kudos: 81
Collections: Darcyverse Secret Santa





	Keeping Score

**Author's Note:**

  * For [yourtoxic_valentine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourtoxic_valentine/gifts).



> For sweet Kristin, who deserves so much more than I can possibly give at this point in the holidays! It's such sweet serendipity that I was given you for Secret Santa, but I'm so glad that I was. I love you and I hope you enjoy! xoxo

Darcy was eating her words.

_A fire pit in the winter makes no sense, dad._

_Winter’s going to be our biggest tourist season, dad._

_Why waste the money when we could use it on something other than a fire pit that’s just going to fill up with snow, dad?_

But in the middle of the night, when she’d been unable to sleep and craving the fresh air, the outdoor seating felt like the best place to be. It had taken her a few tries to get the fire itself going but she’d managed to work it into… well, not a roaring blaze, but enough to keep her warm while she huddled on one of the outdoor sofas in her knitwear and two layers of leggings.

The solitude outside was welcoming after a week of running herself ragged at the inn. It wasn’t that she didn’t love working with her father, using her business degree to help him turn her childhood home into a charming little bed and breakfast that was staggeringly successful. But even their profitability and unending busy season didn’t stop the days from starting to bleed together in a monotonous gray after a while. Or, at least, they had. 

“Hey,” a voice called, just the right side of rough in the darkness, “You okay?”

Darcy looked up, her eyes locking onto the approaching brunet. The entire reason for her being awake and outdoors at two in the morning, if she was being honest with herself. And she was trying to do that more these days.

“Bucky?” Despite her surprise, she could hear the smile appearing just through her voice. “Yeah, I’m okay. What are you doing up?”

The closer he got, Darcy realized he was dressed for the elements, in jeans and boots and his usual hoodie and leather jacket combo. He was also carrying a large mug in each hand, which made it less and less likely that he’d just seen her through a window and wanted to poke his head out for a pulse check.

“Couldn’t sleep,” he replied, waiting for her to scoot before dropping onto the cushion next to her. 

He held out one of the mugs and she took it, smiling even wider when she saw the marshmallows floating on the surface. 

“Hot cocoa?”

“Well, normally I’d do coffee.” Bucky paused a beat to take a sip. “But since it’s the middle of the night, caffeine seemed pretty counterintuitive.”

Well, he wasn’t _wrong_. Darcy eyed him over the rim of her mug, blowing a marshmallow to the other side before tentatively sipping some herself. It was hot but not scalding, and the richness was so welcome that she took another, longer drink.

“You didn’t have to do this,” she said, perking an eyebrow when he gave her a quizzical look. “The cocoa. If you wanted some, you could have let me know. You’re a guest, and—”

Not for the first time, Bucky stopped her with a dismissive wave and a lopsided grin. “You don’t have to wait on me hand and foot, Darcy. Guest or not, I’m pretty independent.”

And that was where he _was_ wrong. Because she did have to wait on him hand and foot. Not only because he was a guest at Pheasant Ridge, but because he was possibly the most important guest they’d ever had.

She wasn’t even supposed to know. Juniper, Birch & Bell were a notoriously prestigious and secretive website dedicated to reviewing all sorts of hospitality venues around the country, and most of the time an owner had no idea they’d even been visited before an article went up either praising or damning their business. B&B, aptly named considering their vocation, had a reputation of making or breaking a company based on their reviews.

But after a tip that someone from the company might be headed their way, Darcy had been on high alert. And not even three days later, Bucky Barnes had rolled into town with his perpetually messy hair and pouty lips and the suitcase labeled _J.B.B._ She would have considered it a big fat coincidence if he hadn’t constantly had a camera around his neck, taking photos of everything in sight.

Long story short, it was enough to set her teeth on edge. Because she wanted the inn to do well. She wanted her dad to succeed and see the house that she’d grown up in transform into a place that seemed comfortable and peaceful for other people, too.

And it did not help one single, solitary bit that Bucky Barnes, the man who could make or break all of their plans with a few keystrokes, was easily the most gorgeous, charming man she’d ever laid eyes on.

“Still,” she finally managed to get out, “Just let me know next time.”

Bucky grinned in her direction, his eyes crinkling at the corners in that fuck-all adorable way he’d been doing all week. “I’m not bothering you for hot chocolate at two in the morning.”

“Which brings me to my next point.” Darcy narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Why are you up right now? Bed too uncomfortable? Is it too cold? Because I can turn the heat up, I’m sure no one else will mind…”

She was spared the rest of her ramble by a bout of warm laughter that sounded like it came from somewhere deep in his chest.

“Everything inside is perfect,” he promised. “I just get restless at night. Nightmares, sometimes.”

Darcy stopped her mental checklist of everything that could have been going haywire inside and shifted on the seat to turn more towards him. His smile remained, but it was more tired than she’d seen it before, and he had the beginnings of circles under his eyes. Concern flared up in her breastbone, and her half-hearted attempts to remind herself that he was a guest and nothing more flew out the window.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“You’re already doing it.” He gestured between them and then towards the fire with his free hand. “This helps. Not being alone.”

She smiled, following the motion of his hand to glance from the fire and then out at the rest of the property beyond. “Yeah, it does.”

The view across the way didn’t have much going for it under the cover of night, but the sky was dotted with plenty of stars to keep them company. Darcy inhaled, the sharp, sweet scent of winter intermixed with the woodsy smoke from the flames settling in her chest. All of it smelled like home.

“It’s beautiful out here,” Bucky said between sips of cocoa. “No wonder you guys are so packed.”

“That’s part of it.” Darcy laughed. “We’re also cheaper than the Hilton in town.”

It was exactly the type of joke she shouldn’t have been making in front of a man responsible for rating her family’s business, but the inclination to relax around Bucky seemed more pronounced in the odd, dream-like cocoon of a mid-morning fireside chat. And if he had noticed or was throwing up marks against her for the comments, he definitely wasn’t showing it.

Instead, there was nothing but a genuine interest on his face. “And this is where you grew up?”

Darcy nodded. “Before Dad converted it, it was our house.”

“Musta been a hell of a place to grow up. All this land, I mean.”

“It was,” she hummed. “But it would be nice to see something else for a change.”

When she met Bucky’s eyes again, the curiosity and confusion in his eyes had increased tenfold. “You’ve never traveled?”

There she went again, letting everything slip out.

It wasn’t that Darcy was a particularly secretive person. In fact, most of her fights with Jane over the years had been over her complete and utter inability to keep anything resembling a secret to herself. But being truthful and being _honest_ were two completely separate things, and she found herself edging towards the latter each time she indulged in Bucky’s steel blue gaze. 

“Nope.” She popped the ‘p’, hoping for casual. 

“Not even for school?”

“Hey, man, not everybody’s got money for a big, fancy university. Community college suited me just fine.”

Bucky held a hand up in surrender. “That’s not what I meant. I’m just surprised, that’s all. Besides, travel isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

“Says the man who travels for a living?” Darcy raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

“Okay, okay,” he laughed. “I see what you’re saying. And it _is_ pretty damn awesome. But having a home base is nice, too.”

Darcy raised her mug for another drink but didn’t take her eyes off of him, caught in the wave of curiosity that she’d sent rushing his way to begin with. “You don’t have one?”

“A few,” Bucky amended, and his gaze dropped to the snow between his boots for a moment. “Got a pain in the ass best friend back in New York, all settled down with a couple kids. My sister, too, she’s got a little boy. I visit as much as I can.”

She waited a beat for him to continue, but he was finished. 

“That’s it, huh?”

“Yeah,” Bucky breathed. “That’s it.”

The dull pang of concern from before beat against her chest with her next heartbeat, spurring Darcy into action before she could think about it. Bucky’s hand was _right there_ after all, just resting next to her leg on the seat, and it seemed natural to curl her fingers around his and give them a gentle squeeze.

“You had it right earlier, you know. It helps not to be alone.”

His head turned, looking down at their joined fingers, and it was long enough that Darcy almost pulled her hand back out of sheer embarrassment. But then Bucky breathed out again and he squeezed back, firm and steady and sure.

“I guess that’s true,” he said slowly, drawing out every syllable in a delicious way that allowed her drink in the sweet roughness of his Brooklyn accent. “But some company is better than others.”

Darcy’s mug was nearly empty, but the warmth in her cheeks didn’t feel in any way related to the cocoa settled in her stomach. It seemed far more likely that his eyes, pinned on hers again and doing that soul-searching thing, were the culprit behind all the blood in her body rushing to her face and neck. 

They stared at each other for several moments, locked in a mutual understanding and the type of moment that would generally lead one direction, before her mouth opened and ruined all of it.

“I know you’re the reviewer,” she blurted out. “I know, I’m not supposed to know, but I saw your luggage and I knew it from the minute you got here, and it’s so _stupid_ because all I want is to kiss you right now but I can’t put my dad’s business in jeopardy like that, and I know that you—”

“Darcy,” Bucky interrupted, his eyebrows knit together. “Hold on. What are you talking about?”

She took a deep breath. “It’s okay, Bucky. You don’t have to pretend.”

Man, he was really selling the confusion. He would’ve given Gordon Ramsay and his secret restaurant visits a run for their money, sans shitty costumes.

“Back up a bit, doll. You think I’m here to review the inn?”

“Well… yeah?” Darcy set her mug aside and sat up a little straighter, confusion muddling her own features. “Aren’t you?”

Bucky frowned. “No?”

“But… but your luggage! The JBB, for Juniper, Birch & Bell, right?” 

His face slackened and for a moment Darcy thought she had him, but then Bucky started laughing.

“Darcy, those are my initials. James Buchanan Barnes. Bucky’s just a nickname I’ve had since I was a kid.”

Mortification shot through her veins like ice water. “You don’t work for a review company?”

“No,” Bucky’s laughter continued through his dismissal of her concerns, and while there was something in her that was irritated about being chuckled at during a truly embarrassing moment, the relief that he wasn’t the deciding factor for her father’s business was palpable. “I’m just in town to take photos of the Christmas festival for my website. That’s all.”

“Oh,” was all she could squeak out. “Well, then.”

His amusement changed from all-out laughter to something more intimately teasing as he leaned towards her, fingers still interlocked with hers. “So that’s why you were so nice all week. You don’t like me at all, you just wanted to get a good review out of me!”

“No!” Darcy defended, but it was so quick that all it did was make him grin wider. “Well, okay, at first. But then you had to go and be… _you_ , and it mixed everything up!”

Somehow, without her noticing, Bucky had moved even closer. Close enough that she could take in the laugh lines on his face, could see the snow clinging to his hair, could smell the aftershave he must have used that morning. Close enough that she could make the distance between them disappear with a simple shift of her weight.

“And what about now?”

Darcy blinked a few times, trying to soak in his words beyond the… well, everything, that was distracting her at the moment. “What?”

“What about now, Darcy?” His tongue darted out to wet his lips. “Are things still mixed up for you?”

In place of an answer, she let go of his hand, her fingers take up residence around the back of his neck and pulling him in as she shaped her lips around his. Neither of them were satisfied with a simple peck and so the kisses drug on, slow and reverential and as rich as the hot chocolate on both of their tongues.

Sometime later, it could have been five minutes or five months for all Darcy knew or cared, they separated with a mutual bout of laughter.

“Well, this complicates things,” she sighed, leaning her forehead against his. “You’re leaving in a few days, right?”

“I am.” Bucky wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she melted into the touch, allowing herself to be cradled against his broad chest. “But not forever. I do travel for a living, you know.”

“And maybe once Dad gets a handle on this place on his own…” Darcy said the words slowly, almost afraid to bring them into reality. “Maybe I could do some traveling, too.”

His thumb and finger caught her chin and tipped her head for another kiss, one that lingered until her toes curled.

“I like the sound of that. And until then…” Bucky brushed his nose against hers. “We’ve got a little time.”

He was right about that, too. It was too soon to talk about a future of traveling together, or making a home base together, or anything else that made her anxious heart beat faster. They’d only known each other a week and a few kisses in the winter air were hardly a declaration of commitment.

But she was going to take each and every one of them while she could.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed my first actual published Wintershock (which seems insane considering the amount I've read over the years!!). Every single kudos and comment is appreciated and cherished.


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